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Coronavirus pandemic
ChinaScience

China’s Delta outbreak slows as Fujian reports falling case numbers

  • The 28 local cases reported on Sunday are the lowest daily tally in the past seven days of the outbreak
  • Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan visits three affected cities and stresses the need for strict controls to halt community spread

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A child is tested for Covid-19 in Xiamen, one of three cities affected by an outbreak of the Delta variant in Fujian province. Photo: AFP
Wendy WuandHarvey Kong
There are hopeful signs that community transmission of Covid-19 may be easing in Fujian, with the Chinese coastal province reporting 28 cases on Sunday, its lowest number of new cases in seven days.
This compared to 43 new cases a day earlier in the province, which has been the focus of the latest outbreak of the highly transmissible Delta variant, first reported on September 10. There have now been 363 infections in Fujian, but no deaths.

The National Health Commission also reported one asymptomatic case in Yunnan province in the update.

01:39

China’s Delta variant outbreak in Fujian surges as Covid-19 cases hit 165 in a week

China’s Delta variant outbreak in Fujian surges as Covid-19 cases hit 165 in a week
At an afternoon press conference, Fujian officials said 92 children, aged 14 and below, had been hospitalised – 81 in Putian and 11 in Xiamen. No details were provided on their condition, but they are known to include at least eight kindergarten and 28 primary school pupils in Putian, where the outbreak was first detected. China’s vaccination campaign includes children as young as 12.

Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan, who is in charge of the national Covid-19 response, arrived in Fujian on Saturday and visited the three cities at the centre of the outbreak – Putian, Xiamen and Quanzhou.

Sun said the infected children should receive proper treatment, addressing both their physical and psychological needs.

She also called for a boost in the efficiency of nucleic acid testing and the screening of at-risk groups to “take all efforts to prevent the spread of the virus”, according to state news agency Xinhua.

There were still uncertainties in control of the pandemic while community infections continued. And lockdowns should be implemented accurately and strictly to “thoroughly cut down the chains of community infection”, Sun said.

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